


New Life

by Ardwynna



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-24
Updated: 2012-09-28
Packaged: 2017-11-14 22:46:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/520304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ardwynna/pseuds/Ardwynna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sephiroth longs to share his deepest secret. When Genesis and Angeal decide to leave the company, he knows it's now or never.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

They took Angeal inside and left Sephiroth waiting in the hall. He could still feel the warmth on his chest, the touch of a strong gloved hand. Angeal had known who would best serve even before Sephiroth himself.  
They were like each other, Angeal and Genesis. They could share so much with just a glance. It made sense they would share blood too.  
Sephiroth had never known what that was like, to grow up sharing things with someone else. To have things in common. He heard the words again in his mind.

“You won’t do.”

He never did. He was too different. It weighed on him, pulling at the pit of his stomach. Some days, with them, he had been able to pretend. Pretend to be like them, pretend to be more normal. He had liked it. He turned away from the cold steel door and began to walk away, seeking some private place.

He barely made a sound as he moved down the hall. Sometimes he sought solitude. This time it was thrust upon him. He was not like the others and the reminder had been cold. There was no one like him in the world. Until now.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He was alone in his apartment when Genesis came to see him. A courtesy call, Genesis called it, wearing distress plain on his face. “I’m leaving,” he said, interrupting (kickstarting?) all Sephiroth’s plans. “I can’t stay anymore. What they’re doing, it’s not working. I have to go.”

Sephiroth looked up from his task, but not at Genesis.

“Sephiroth,” Genesis said, “did you hear me?”

“I heard you,” Sephiroth said. He let his pen fall to the desk.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Genesis asked. “Aren’t you going to try to stop me?”

Sephiroth did look at him then. “Do you want me to?”

Genesis shrugged, looking worn and pale, his skin paper thin. “Angeal said you might try. I thought I’d give you the chance to do it up front.”

“Hmm.” Sephiroth glanced over his work, his thoughts miles and miles away.

“Sephiroth?”

“Now or never,” Sephiroth said, more to the air than his company.

“Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth looked up. “Yes, Genesis?”

“I’m leaving. Don’t you have anything to say?”

Sephiroth took one deep breath and let his tongue move before his head could rationalize against it. “Go pack. Dress warmly. Angeal too. Meet me at the garage level in half an hour. Don’t be seen.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He was a man with a mission now, a man on the move. Nothing he hadn’t done before. He set a brutal pace, even for SOLDIERs, and pretended not to hear Genesis wheezing behind. He had to keep going, keep them moving behind him, following, or else he would have time to think and change his mind and he could not risk that. This needed to be done. He had put it off far too long.

They had gone to the train station but not taken the train. They walked down drab tunnels in the dark, crouching against damp walls when bright lights on wheels went clattering by. A broken service access let them climb down the rest of the way. The slums were no obstacle, the way out long known. They had marched and hitchhiked and ridden and even stowed away and all the while Sephiroth refused to think about what he had just done. Genesis began to fall behind more often. Angeal stayed to help him along.

Sephiroth would not stop. He looked back once, when they were on the water, to the city fading in the distance and the tower that had been the center of his entire life. He had taken this route and others like it on many occasions before, but it was different this time.

He knew they were talking behind him. He knew they were talking about him. He always knew when people were talking about him. But he couldn't blame them this time. He had kept them in the dark about everything, about the route, the destination, even the reason. Especially the reason.

Later. He would think about it later. There was too much to do now for him to afford the distraction. Ice crunched beneath his feet. Snow gathered on his eyelashes. His own breath obscured the trail from view. He traced the path by heart and memory alone. He left no markers, so that no one else would ever find it. Angeal and Genesis would have to follow along the best they could.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“He’s going to kill us.”

“What?”

Genesis struggled to move in the deep snow. “Sephiroth,” he said, fighting for breath in the cold air. “He’s going to kill us.”

Angeal shook his head and gave Genesis an arm to hold on to. “Now how do you figure he would do a thing like that?”

Genesis shot Angeal a bitter look. “He has a six foot sword and armor full of materia. How do you think he’s going to do it?”

Angeal rolled his eyes. “I guess the word I really wanted was ‘why’.” He put an arm around Genesis’s waist and hoisted him out of the snow. Sephiroth was a vague shadow up ahead, half-hidden by snowfall.

Genesis leaned into the warmth and let himself be guided along. “We’ve betrayed the company,” he said, beginning to wheeze. “You know how he is, the job is everything. It’s everything he stands for. He brought us out here to clean up the mess and then he’ll go back and say we were killed in action.” He paused to catch his breath. Angeal thought his face looked a little grey. “The press has a field day, the public mourns, the company makes a killing off its own memorabilia and the world goes on like it did before.”

Angeal sank deep into the snow himself. It was possible. He hated to think it of Sephiroth, but it was possible. He had never been like them.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was two more days before they crossed the mountains. Sephiroth had found – known – some surprisingly easy trails up and through the deadly peaks. All the same Angeal had been convinced that he would have to put Genesis on his back before the journey was over.

"Do we even know where the hell we are?"

"Judging by all the snow," Angeal said, "I'd say somewhere up north."

"Very funny, Angeal." Genesis fell to one knee. Angeal shouldered both their packs and gave Genesis an arm to hold on to.

"I have some ideas," Angeal said, "but I couldn't pinpoint us on a map." He squinted into the snow. It swirled down from peaks above them. “At least we’re out of the mountains now,” Angeal said. “Can you imagine being stuck up there in all this?”

“Oh, and being stuck in some goddess-forgotten glacier valley is even better?” Genesis forced himself upwards, gasping with every breath. “If there’s an avalanche they’ll never find us.”

Angeal squinted into the snow, keeping an eye on the dark figure retreating into the storm. “That might be the idea.”

“Death by accident?” Genesis lurched onward. “Act of nature?”

“Not being found.” Angeal refused to engage the more morbid possibilities.

“We’re going to die here.” Genesis moaned, falling behind again. “If it’s not Sephiroth, it’ll be the weather.” He stopped. “I hear freezing to death is dreadfully slow business.”

“Don’t worry, Gen,” Angeal said. “Maybe the wolves will get us first. I hear that’s much faster.”

“There are wolves this far north?” Genesis hurried forward.

“Probably.” Angeal looked around. “You’re not planning on going down without a fight, are you?”

“Never!” That put starch in his spine again. Angeal knew Genesis was ill, terribly so, but how much of the moaning was real and how much for show he never could tell. Genesis carried on bravely enough despite his complaints, though he had to wrap a scarf around his nose to keep the air warm enough to breathe. The sky dimmed above them.

“Wherever we’re going, I hope we get there soon,” Genesis said. “It gets dark early here.”

Angeal stared into the snowfall. His eyes began to find more than Sephiroth’s back fading into the distance. They were heading into the woods now, a mass of hardy evergreens that had sprung up to reclaim the earth. Angeal’s eyes began to pick out shapes buried in the snow, large rocks, tall stumps, and, veiled by the snow, even the uprights and slopes that suggested the remnants of long gone shelter. It was common, if they were as high north as Angeal suspected. This land too, had been settled many times. No people ever stayed for long. The archaeologists at Bone Village would have a grand time if they ever made it this far.

They walked until the trees surrounded them. Angeal was afraid they would reach mountains again. “Angeal, is that a light?” Genesis’s breathy voice nearly blended with the wind.

Up ahead, there did indeed seem to be a light in the distance, part reflection, part soft glow. “I think it is,” Angeal said. And just like that, Sephiroth stopped walking.

Nestled against the slope of the land, half-sheltered from the worst of the wind, was a cottage, very likely the last that remained of all the long gone villages. Sephiroth stood under the eave, attempting to shake the snow from his boots and tame his hair. He was still at it when Angeal caught up with him, stopping a short distance away to take in the sight. The light was coming from a window.

Genesis stood in the snow, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, gasping. “This your private hunting lodge, Sephiroth?” he said. “Could have told us.” Sephiroth shot him an odd look.

Angeal was leaning backwards to check the depth of snow gathering on the steep slope of the roof. It did not occur to him that the odd knocking sound was Sephiroth rapping on the door. He nearly tipped over in surprise when it opened.

Sephiroth’s broad shoulders blocked the sliver of entryway from view, but the glow behind it was the kind that came from a wood fire on a cold night. Sephiroth bowed his head at the door. His voice was so soft even SOLDIER ears could not hear him. Then the door opened wide and he was beckoning them inside. Angeal stood where he was.

Half-hidden behind the door was a very young woman. She had wide eyes in a pale face and a cautious smile on her lips. “Please, come in,” she said. Angeal could sense Genesis beside him, staring like a deer in headlights.

“Come in,” Sephiroth said gruffly. “You’re letting all the heat out.”

Genesis recovered first, ever the social savant. “I beg your pardon, Miss,” he said, turning the charm up high as he crossed the threshold. “I’m Sephiroth’s friend, Genesis, if he’s ever been so good as to mention me.” The woman laughed, and there was something very girlish about it still.

“I’m Aerith,” she said, rubbing her arms against the chill. Angeal stepped in quickly.

“Angeal Hewley, ma’am,” he said. He ducked his head to get in the door, and let his eyes adjust while she latched it tight behind him.

The difference was astounding. The wind howled like the devil outside and he could see the snow piling up outside the small windows, but the little kitchen was warm and cozy. Shiny pots and old fashioned crockery shared space on neatly lined shelves. Winter onions filled baskets hanging from the low ceiling. There was even a row of herbs growing in small pots on one windowsill, close enough to get warmth from the little wood-burning stove. The snow seemed miles away.

The rest of the cottage matched his initial assessment. It was a sturdy log dwelling, a decent size, well-crafted, tidy and showing the touch of reclamation from ages past, hewn logs stacked on a stone foundation. The kitchen’s low ceiling, likely a loft, looked to be of brighter, newer wood than the rest, and the stairs leading up to it looked newer still. Here and there were signs of recent inexpert repair. Angeal could well-imagine the place being restored out of the husk of something older as each wave of settlement passed through. His eyes strayed to the other end of the cottage, where a large stone fireplace sat dark and unused.

“Won’t you please sit down?” Aerith was saying, smoothing her dark dress. “I was about to start dinner. I guess I’ll need the big pot now.” There was a nervous edge to her voice. It made sense. Most people were nervous when SOLDIERs descended upon them unannounced. But Sephiroth was clearly no stranger here from the way he was unpacking his supplies, and perhaps his word was good enough. Angeal did not miss the furrow of concern on his brow. “Is stew okay?” Aerith was saying. “I’ve got a lovely smoked ham Sephiroth brought me too.”

“Whatever you have is more hospitality than we deserve, dropping in on you like this,” Genesis said, taking a seat at the small kitchen table. He looked instantly revitalized by the warmth. “I never would have imagined Sephiroth was bringing us to a place like this.” He wagged a warning finger at the man, who ignored it and kept unpacking. “He kept it a secret the whole time.”

Angeal found his voice. “Do you live here all alone, Miss Aerith? You seem pretty isolated up here.”

She laughed again, lightly, and Angeal saw Sephiroth stiffen. He walked to the far end of the room and bent down to a crate that hung swinging on a long rope from the ceiling. “I’m not alone here,” Aerith said, her eyes on Sephiroth’s back.

Sephiroth turned around with a drab grey blanket bundled in his arms. “She’s not alone,” he said. The blanket stirred. A tiny arm emerged, and a tiny head, with silver hair and large green eyes. “This is our little girl, Elle.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“I’m going to kill him,” Genesis said, hacking wood with a vengeance. “I’m going to kill him till he dies from it, and then I’ll beat him to death.”

“I think that’s the definition of overkill,” Angeal said. He was content to set the wood up for splitting and let Genesis work out the shock with the axe. “You seem to be feeling better.”

“Because I’m so! Angry!” Genesis sent the wood flying.

Angeal ran to pick it up. Funny how the cold didn’t seem so bad once they knew there was someplace warm to return to. And it would be warmer still once they got the big fireplace lit properly. But in the meantime, Genesis needed room to stew.

“I’m sure he had a good reason for keeping her a secret,” Angeal said.

“Good reason like what?” Genesis whacked another log.

“Can’t say, exactly,” Angeal said, setting up more wood. “But give him a minute. It might be an interesting story.”

“I have no doubt it’s interesting,” Genesis said. “Excuses for cradle robbing are always a trip.”

Angeal got his hands out of the way in the nick of time. “Cradle robbing?”

“Come on, ‘geal, you’ve seen her. Aerith is young. She must be… Goddess, I don’t even want to guess.” He hacked at seasoned wood.

“Maybe she just looks young,” Angeal said.

Genesis snorted. “You saw the kid too, right? She wasn’t born yesterday. Factor in gestation time and Seph’s going straight to jail.”

“Depends on if city laws apply out this way,” Angeal said. “You know how it goes the more rural you get.”

“Oh, yes,” Genesis said, swinging with a vengeance. “Twelve for girls, ten for boys, two and a half for sheep.” He stopped and looked around nervously. “You don’t see any sheep around here by chance, do you?”

“No, Gen. I’m pretty sure he’s not that far gone.”

“We can hope.” Genesis set the axe down and took a seat on the chopping block. He stared at the back of the house, but there was only the wood pile and tiny, darkened windows of the larder and wash area.

“I can have a little talk with him to figure things out, if it’s bugging you that much,” Angeal offered.

“That would help,” Genesis said. He put his chin on his fist, looking glum. “Cute kid, at least. Guess it figures Seph would spawn pretty.” He sighed heavily.

“Okay, what’s bugging you?”

Genesis circled away on the stump. “He could have told me I was an uncle.”

“What?” Angeal would have laughed but he had kindling to pick up. “How does Sephiroth having a kid make you an uncle?”

“I’m an only child,” Genesis said, not pouting, definitely not pouting. “This is as close as I’ll ever get.” He dug one toe into the snow. “I mean, unless you’ve been keeping secrets, it’s not like I could knock you up.”

Angeal fidgeted. “Move over,” he said, nudging Genesis to get some room on the stump. “You want kids all of a sudden?”

“Yes. NO!” Genesis slumped. “I’ve been thinking about it lately. What it would be like.” He held his hands out. The tremor was fine and not entirely due to the cold. Angeal chose to remain silent.

“Did you ever wonder, Angeal?”

“About what?”

“Having children. Did you ever want any?”

Angeal shivered. “Can’t really say that I gave it much thought. Never figured it was in the cards, you know.” He chuckled. “Just as well. I prefer them old enough to train. Don’t have to worry about diapers and all that.”

“Hmm.” Genesis looked up to the black sky. The stars were brilliant out here, beyond the last floating flakes of snow. “That’s a shame. I always thought you’d make a good father.”

“Did you?” Angeal cocked his head. Genesis could still surprise him after all these years. They sat sharing each other’s warmth for a while.

“Snow’s stopped,” Genesis said.

“Yeah, a while back.” They raised their heads at the sound of a distant howl.

“So there are wolves this far north.” Genesis squinted into the distance. “What do you figure they eat?”

Angeal shrugged. “What wolves normally eat. Anything they can take down.”

“There’s game about, then.” Genesis stood. “You up for a little hunting?”

“I could be,” Angeal said, “but are you?”

Genesis looked up at the wisps of smoke rising from the cottage. “We have to bring a gift for our hostess, don’t we? Besides, I have a feeling Seph could use a little time to get his story straight.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shock has passed. Now to adjust to the situation.

"I brought more dried beans," Sephiroth said, reaching down to the bottom of his pack.

"Thank you," Aerith said, busy with onions on her cutting board. "Could you…?" Sephiroth nodded and took the sack to the door under the stairs. Three short steps down led to the cool larder. A sliver of moonlight came through the high window.

Sephiroth searched for the right spot, setting the beans down next to the peas. He took a look around the scrupulously organized shelves, assessing the stores as he always did to prepare for his next visit.

Visit. Visits were temporary things. Still, the powdered milk was past the halfway mark, Aerith could use a new wheel of cheese and he had learned that there was no such thing as too much flour. A quick glance at the vegetable baskets below showed that Aerith's uncanny luck with her winter garden had continued. He filled a small tray with what he thought she might need.

"You still have a lot of that cured meat I brought you," he called out, ducking strings of hard sausage.

"I can't eat it all on my own," Aerith said, "and Elle's only just started on soft foods."

Sephiroth straightened so fast he hit his head on a ham. He chose a spicy sausage to flavor the stew and stumbled back into the kitchen. "She's eating solid food?" Had it been that long since he'd last come?

"Not hard food," Aerith said, smiling over her work, "but she's getting teeth. She won't nurse forever."

Sephiroth bent down to Elle's makeshift cradleswing. The baby lay there, quiet and uncomplaining. She stared up at him with eyes that were slit-pupiled, like his own. Sephiroth frowned at her. She frowned back. Sephiroth sat back on his heels and frowned some more. "She won't let me see."

"What, her teeth?" Aerith turned and laughed. "Smile at her, she'll smile back."

Sephiroth turned back to the cradle and tried to crack a grin. Elle kept her frown. "It's not working."

"Don't rush it. You're bound to see them in action sooner or later."

Sephiroth reached into the cradle and tickled Elle the way he had seen some parents do with their own young. She kicked the boards of the crate. Sephiroth sighed and rose to give Aerith the ingredients for the pot. He still had some unpacking to do.

"I brought more soap," he said.

"Lovely!" Aerith said, genuinely pleased. The short lists she gave him were infinitely practical, for things he might not have thought of on his own. Yeast, for instance. He still thanked the stars that Aerith had known how to make a variety of flatbreads to tide her over.

"I brought another blanket." A deep, rich green this time, to surround her with as much color as possible in the cold, white north. Aerith nodded her appreciation. Sephiroth cleared his throat.

"I brought some things for Elle."

"New clothes?"

Sephiroth nodded. "A bit big, like you said, so she can grow into them." He placed the bundle on a chair. "I got her this too."

Aerith glanced up. "Another chocobo plushie?"

Sephiroth hid behind his hair. "This one has the little mage hat."

Aerith smirked. "You're getting her quite a collection."

"I got her something else too, not just toys." Sephiroth reached hastily into the pack, rooting around on the bottom.

"What is that?" Aerith's attention was immediately drawn to what he pulled out.

"It's… uh, a book." It was a thick volume of children's stories he had picked up on a whim. He had seen it on the street sale table of a tiny neighborhood bookshop in a back alley in Kalm, and it had occurred to him that storybooks were a thing children were supposed to have. He had picked it up without a second thought, paying with cash rather than his company-issued card.

"Fairytales?" Aerith walked over to it, her hand touching the cover with reverence. She opened it to one of the bright illustrations. "Look, Ella, dear," she said, walking over to the cradle. Her dark skirts swept the floor as she knelt. "Daddy brought you a pretty book."

Sephiroth tried hard to swallow the lump in his throat and ignore the urge to rub his arm. "I brought you something too." The way the stove light lit Aerith's face when she looked up made his chest tight. He refused to let the feeling grow. He had no right.

He dug around in his pack for the final gift. His hands shook as he held it out. "What is it?" Aerith asked, eyes on the soft wrapping. She held the open book close to her chest. Sephiroth could only hold the small bundle out further. His tongue refused to move.

Aerith set the book down and took the gift from his hands, feeling gently for the contents and letting the cloth unfurl when she realized there was nothing inside. "Oh!" She held a shawl in her hands, a deep rose pink with a swirling pattern in gold. "It shimmers." She swirled it around her shoulders. The fringed peak reached almost to the floor. "It's beautiful."

Sephiroth looked away. "I thought it would be something warm for you," he mumbled, "since Elle took your grey one for a blanket."

"It's lovely," Aerith said, reaching behind to tie the ends in a knot. "Thank you."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "I should have gotten you a new dress instead. You've had that one since before Elle was born."

Aerith smoothed the dark brown skirt. "It's soft and warm, and I managed to make it fit," she said. "Thanks for the sewing kit, by the way." Sephiroth saw neat lines of stitching running down her regained form and grew painfully aware that he was looking too long. Elle began to fuss in her cradle.

"She needs feeding," Aerith said, picking her little girl up and settling down on a chair near the stove. There were buttons down the front of the brown winter dress. Sephiroth saw why Aerith kept wearing it. He had seen her breastfeed before, she had no shyness about it, but he always tried not to watch too closely. Tried and for the most part succeeded.

It was almost idyllic, the pretty young mother smiling at her nursing child, lit by the fire's glow. It could only happen here for them, far away from the world. Sephiroth resisted the urge to sigh at the thought. It was what it was. Aerith seemed content enough, Elle was safe and they deserved their peace, after everything. Sephiroth cleared his throat.

"I'll help you chop," he said. "I know how to slice and dice at least."

"Thank you." Aerith smiled, though her eyes never left Elle.

He busied himself with the turnips and carrots and dark winter greens that Aerith had somehow managed to grow. She had tamed the abandoned cottage garden outside, blanketed it with fir boughs and coaxed her harvest from the hard ground. Sephiroth's eyes strayed to the herbs growing on the windowsill. She had asked for the seeds and he'd had his doubts, but they grew in the dim winter light from the window all the same. She had a magic touch. Sephiroth had never dared ask where she got it.

"Does it hurt?" he asked. "Now that she has teeth?"

"Not so much," Aerith said. "She's not a biter." Not a biter, not a screamer, not a crier. It occurred to Sephiroth again that Elle was probably an odd little child. He wondered if he had been the same. The few who know were not inclined to tell. He buried the thought in the thunk of the knife on the thick wooden cutting board.

"There now," Aerith said, "Is that okay?" Sephiroth looked up to find her working at the buttons of her dress with one hand.

"I can take her," he said, holding his hands out.

"I need to burp her," Aerith said, "just to be on the safe side."

"I can do it. I've done it before."

Elle accepted the handover without fuss, resting her chin on Sephiroth's shoulder as he began to walk, rubbing her back. She was definitely growing. She felt heavier than she had before. Her hair was longer, wandering into Sephiroth's eyes as he circled the table. He wondered if he had been born with such a full head of hair too. It was the first thing he had noticed about Elle, all the hair. It had taken a while for her to open her eyes.

"Your friends are taking a while with the wood," Aerith said, clearing her cutting board. "Do you think they're okay?"

"If they chopped off a foot, we would have heard it."

Aerith laughed and adjusted her new shawl. She tilted her head to one side in a way Sephiroth had become familiar with. "Biscuits _would_ be good with the stew gravy. I'll go get the flour."

It was one more thing he never asked about. While Aerith was down in the larder he held Elle up, as if she had an explanation to share. She put a fist in her mouth. Sephiroth sighed.

"We're back, milady!" Genesis announced, swinging the door open wide. "Look what we brought!"

Aerith emerged from the larder with a basin of flour under one arm. "We were wondering where you were."

"We took a little run," Angeal said.

"And we brought fresh meat for the pot," Genesis said, holding up the neatly cut haunches of what was probably a northern deer. "Don't worry, we did the butchering away from the house so the predators won't come skulking. Is anything on the stove yet?"

"We just got most of the cutting up done," Aerith said. Her smile showed off the smudge of flour on her cheek.

Angeal held up the rest of the meat. "Would you happen to have a place we can store the extras?"

Aerith nearly hopped, delight plain on her face. "There are hooks in the larder and an icebox in the far corner," she said, nodding towards the door.

"You have an icebox, milady?" Genesis said, collapsing into a chair. His cheeks were flushed and the rest of him looked pale. Sephiroth felt only a little sorry at how hard he had pushed them earlier. If Genesis was inclined to push himself, it couldn't have been all that bad.

Angeal came back from the larder, smirking and shaking his head. "It's an icebox, alright, Gen. It's packed with snow."

"Oh, an icebox." Genesis looked around the cottage. "You really do have something here, Miss."

"Just Aerith is fine," Aerith said, up to her wrists in flour. "I hope you take to the plumbing just as well." Genesis looked stricken.

"Relax," Sephiroth said, rubbing Elle's back. "We've all had to haul water on missions before, and the snow is clean here." Angeal nodded and dragged Genesis over to the sink to wash up.

Genesis fussed a little at the cold water but he was soon slumped back in his seat. He frowned. "Seph, what are you doing?"

Sephiroth paused in his stride. "I'm burping the baby."

Genesis looked pensive. "Can I try?"

"Well, I'm going to go bring the firewood in," Angeal said and slid out the door before anyone could stop him.

Sephiroth put a hand on the back of Elle's head. "I don't know," he said, looking at Genesis. "Have you ever even held a baby before?"

"It's a fine time to learn."

Sephiroth looked reluctant.

"Let him try, Sephiroth," Aerith said, already rolling out her biscuits. "Ella needs to get used to people."

Sephiroth hesitated but eventually held Elle out. "Don't squeeze her, but make sure you have a good grip. She still a soft spot on her head." Genesis reached out and held on with all the care he reserved for his favorite copy of Loveless.

"Um, Sephiroth?"

"What?"

"If I'm going to hold her, you need to let go."

Sephiroth sighed and let his fingers slide off. He pulled a chair up close and watched Genesis like a hawk. Genesis ignored him.

"Hey there, little miss," he said, "I'm your Uncle Gen." Sephiroth snorted. Elle turned her head, seeking a familiar face. Genesis frowned. "Hey, I know your daddy's easy on the eyes, but give a guy a chance, will you?"

Elle turned back to him and wriggled slightly in his grasp. Sephiroth made a small start forward, but there was no danger. Then Elle reached out and grabbed a handful of red hair. "Ow, ow, ow, okay, I need you to let go of that." To Genesis's surprise, Elle let go. She stared at him and broke out into a happy baby grin and gurgles. Genesis had a grin to match. "Look at that, you have itty bitty baby teeth." Sephiroth crossed his arms and sulked.

Genesis settled Elle against his shoulder and began to rub her back the way he had seen Sephiroth do. "I think she likes me." Sephiroth tapped his foot.

Angeal came back in bringing a cold blast of air with him. "Sorry, sorry," he said, shuffling around to toe the door shut. He had enough firewood with him to add a whole new room to the cabin. He stepped out from under the loft into the cold, high-roofed portion of the house. "Let me see what I can do with this great big fireplace. Do you ever light it?"

"Only when Sephiroth's here," Aerith said, using a heavy mitt to pop her biscuit tray in the oven. "It's a bit much for just Ella and me. All the wood."

Angeal nodded and got to work, finding the hearth scrupulously clean. "I suppose it's a risk with a baby in the house too. No fire guard."

"Fire doesn't burn her," Sephiroth said.

"We found out when she kept reaching for hot things," Aerith said. "If you let her she'll roll right into the fireplace and the only thing she'll get is dirty from all the ash."

Angeal quirked an eyebrow at Sephiroth. "A chip off the old block, eh?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "One less thing to worry about."

"Is it 'Elle' or 'Ella'?" Genesis asked, looking back and forth from Sephiroth to Aerith. "You use both."

Sephiroth froze, looking stricken. "Does it matter? She answers to both." Elle kicked her legs out, in protest or agreement, no one could say.

Genesis rolled his eyes. "She's a kid, not a dog. What did you put on her birth certificate?" Now Aerith looked stricken too.

Elle chose that moment to emit a very dainty burp. "What was that? Oh, wait, I did it!" Genesis crowed. "I burped a baby! Angeal, I burped a baby!"

"That's nice, dear," Angeal said, busy with the kindling. With materia instead of flint, he had no trouble. "There," he said. "We'll have this whole place toasty soon enough." Already the room was brighter.

"How come you have a stove and a fireplace?" Genesis asked. "Did they come with the place?"

"The fireplace was part of the building," Aerith said. She had her head tilted, as if listening to something. Her hand hovered over the spice rack, stocked with mismatched glass jars full of dried herbs. She selected without looking. "Sephiroth brought the stove in when he realized how much work the hearth was."

Genesis looked at the ancient monstrosity that was the antique wood burning stove. Genesis looked at Sephiroth. "Couldn't you find the girl a nice hot plate?"

"There's nowhere to plug one in," Sephiroth said, trying to get Elle's attention with the new chocobo plushie. "We found the stove in one of the other old cottages. It was nearby, it was functional, it made sense."

"Waste not, want not," Aerith murmured, starting to braise the meat. Sephiroth knew how much they owed to that stove, stuck in the last crumbling corner of what had probably been an even bigger, grander dwelling once. It had warmed Aerith and Elle both one bitter night, before they found their home.

"You want to hold the baby, Angeal?" Genesis offered.

Angeal sat back. "I don't think that's a smart idea."

"Why not?" Genesis was just shy of whining. "It's not hard. Come on, just a little while."

Genesis would wheedle till he got his way. Angeal sighed. "At least let me sit down first." He chose what looked like the sturdiest chair, dusted himself off and took a deep breath. "Okay."

Sephiroth actually looked pleased to have his little one on Angeal's lap. Or maybe he was happy Genesis wasn't holding her anymore. Angeal kept his hands firmly around the little girl's middle, afraid to move them. She was so soft and tiny and he was large and capable of crushing rocks. But Elle was a sensible child, it seemed, staying very still. Angeal did not know what he would do if she started to bounce. "Huh," he said, "This isn't so bad."

"See?" Genesis looked terribly pleased with himself. He knelt down beside the chair. "It's not that hard, is it, Ella? Worrying for nothing, that's what it was. Now that he's used to it maybe later Aunty Angeal will tell you a story."

"'Aunty'?" Angeal raised an eyebrow. Genesis blew him a raspberry. "Yes," Angeal said, with a pang of feeling for Sephiroth. "I can tell you're going to be a stellar influence on the kid."

"I think she likes you," Sephiroth said, staring at Elle, who in turn appeared fixated on Angeal's beard.

"You think so?" Angeal tilted his head this way and that, studying Elle's face. "Maybe she does. And I think she's peeing on me." He held her up and Sephiroth whisked her away.

"You change diapers, Sephiroth?" Genesis asked. "Can I try?"

Sephiroth snorted, taking Elle over to her cradle. "Watch and learn first."

Angeal stood and watched Aerith, busy over her pot and pans. "Could I help you cook," he said. "I'm pretty good at it, if you'll take my word for it."

"You can take my word too," said Genesis, leaning back to get his hair out of Elle's reach. "Look, your daddy brought a chocobo toy for you." He held the toy over Elle's head to keep her entertained while Sephiroth cleaned her up. She grabbed hold tight and passed the toy from hand to hand, examining every angle, then rather predictably tried to eat it. "Don't chew his butt, sweetie," Genesis said, pulling her hands away from her mouth. "All the flavor's in the neck."

Sephiroth sighed around the diaper pins in his mouth. It was going to be a long night.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Dinner was the loudest and brightest affair the little cabin had seen in recent existence. They ate by the hearth on two pew-like benches, their bowls on their laps and their cups near their feet. The meal was hearty, the flavors pleasing and the company divine. Angeal watched the pot cooling with satisfaction. Aerith assured him the leftovers would keep in the larder and he had to admit he looked forward to a second round. Aerith cooked like his mother did, turning simple, down-to-earth ingredients into a bowlful of heaven. When he asked about it, she bashfully claimed it was an old family recipe. He helped himself to another biscuit and wondered if being an honorary 'aunty' made him family enough.

Genesis was in his element, regaling the room with embarrassing stories of SOLDIER exploits and his own over-the-top charm. If his eyes were too bright and his skin too pale, only Angeal really noticed. Aerith seemed to be enjoying the company, initial concerns forgotten, not at all put out by the sudden SOLDIER invasion of her home.

Sephiroth alone looked glum, as if something weighed heavy on his mind. Perhaps it was how much attention Elle was giving her doting Uncle Gen. Angeal couldn't say he had given it much thought, but he supposed if he had been a parent he would worry about Genesis's influence too.

"I should feed her," Aerith said, collecting the empty bowls. "Does anyone want thirds? More water, maybe?"

"I'm fine," Genesis said. "I couldn't move if you wanted me to." He sat up as a thought occurred to him. "Do you need privacy to feed her?"

Aerith laughed. "It's okay, I nursed her already. She can have some of the stew now." She reached for a tiny bowl she had set aside earlier to cool and began to mash the contents with the back of a spoon.

"Ooh, hear that, Elle?" Genesis said. "You're getting big girl food. You like that?" Elle laughed her baby laugh and smiled her baby smile, all gums but for two little teeth on her lower jaw.

"Hold her still," Aerith said, blowing on a spoonful of stew gravy. "Here it comes." Elle ate the first two spoonfuls with no fuss but turned her head away from the third. "What's the matter, don't you like it?"

"What is that you're giving her?" Genesis asked.

"Mashed turnip," Aerith said, trying again with the spoon.

"Turnip? No wonder! At least give the kid a carrot or something. Who goes wild for turnips?"

Sephiroth frowned. "I like turnips."

Aerith smirked. "There, see, Ella? Daddy likes turnips."

Sephiroth looked down at his bowl, still lingering over the last of his meal. "Maybe they're too dry for her."

Aerith mixed the turnip in with a little more gravy. Genesis watched Elle eat two more spoonfuls. "May I try?" Aerith let him have the spoon.

Angeal was happy for Genesis. The man was clearly enjoying himself. There had been too little of that lately. Still, enjoyment did nothing to improve the root of the problem. Genesis was still sick, still visibly fading, and no isolated country air existence was likely to help. Angeal watched Sephiroth watching Genesis feed the baby and realized there were still so many plans to be made.

"Sephiroth, you want to help me with the dishwater," he asked, acquainted with the 'plumbing' by then. "We can bring in more wood for the night too." Sephiroth nodded and rose, but his eyes lingered on his little girl.


	3. Chapter 3

The night air was very still and not as bitterly cold as it could have been, though still bracing after the cabin's warmth. "We can stop here," Sephiroth said. "The ground's okay for it."

"Ground's okay a little further up too, right?" Angeal kept walking, wanting some distance for what he had to say. Sephiroth felt the thickness in the air around them. He kept his peace.

"Here's okay, right?" Angeal asked. Sephiroth nodded and helped him upturn the water into the stony depression beneath the trees. Angeal looked down at the layer of ice below. "Does it ever really melt here?"

"In the summer."

"That's what, two days in August?"

Sephiroth shrugged and waited. Sure enough, Angeal had something to say. "So where did you and Aerith meet?"

Sephiroth's stomach dropped to his shoes. "In the lab," he said, hoisting the bucket over his shoulder. He couldn't look Angeal in the eye right now.

"The lab, huh?" Angeal folded his arms and scratched his chin. "And here Gen and I were thinking all that lab time was bad for your social life." He began the slow walk back to the house. "Wouldn't have thought cruising for lab techs was your thing, but if that's what works for you." Sephiroth kept walking.

"Can't blame you for picking Aerith up," Angeal continued. "She's very pretty."

Sephiroth stopped behind the house to get wood from the shed. "Just spit it out. I can tell Genesis set you up to something."

Angeal kicked up a little snow. "You can?"

"You're not one to pry unless he makes you."

Angeal cleared his throat and moved closer to get his share of the firewood. "Fair enough. Gen's of the opinion that she looks a little young for you."

"She is." Sephiroth stopped at the corner of the house, where he would be out of sight from inside. His voice was almost lost in the night. "I've done a very bad thing, Angeal," he said. "I've been trying to make up for it."

"By bringing her to live behind Gaia's back? Hiding your little mistake from the world?"

"No!" Sephiroth threw a black look over his shoulder, then seemed to hunch in on himself. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" Angeal asked, moving past Sephiroth. He stopped some distance from the front door. The light from inside was brighter now. Through the window they could see Genesis attempting to play peek-a-boo while Ella looked on, unimpressed.

Sephiroth came up beside Angeal and stared through the window. "Hojo."

It was so obvious Angeal could have hit himself for overlooking it. "You brought them here to keep them safe…" he murmured. "Your wife and child….."

"We're not married."

Angeal dropped his firewood and got ready to swing. "What the hell do you mean you're not married?"

Sephiroth stood his ground but he held his firewood and bucket up closer to his chest. "Would you please stop jumping to conclusions."

"Give me a boost here and I won't have to jump," Angeal said. "How could you knock a girl up and not do the right thing?"

"She wouldn't want me!" Sephiroth said. They could see Aerith in the kitchen now, covering the leftovers, smiling over her shoulder at the game Genesis and Ella were playing. Sephiroth exhaled deeply, lost hopes fogging the air. "It was never… never like that with us."

"So what was it like?"

Sephiroth looked away.

Angeal took a few deep breaths. "Well, whatever it was like, you have responsibilities now."

Sephiroth turned around, frustrated. "And I'm doing everything I can to live up to them." Behind him, Aerith paused to stroke her shawl.

Angeal bent down to pick up his load again. "I guess you are. Still, did you even offer?"

"Offer what, exactly?"

"To marry her. At least give her the option of turning you down."

Sephiroth almost choked. "Angeal, this is between her and me. Please, let it be."

"I guess," Angeal said. "Poking my head too far in your business, am I?"

"A bit."

Angeal straightened. "Still, a kid should have a father around." He thought of the Buster sword, and everything it meant to him, resting in a corner by the fire.

Sephiroth shrugged. "Elle will have to make do with me."

Angeal snorted and made for the house. "Come on, you're not that bad at this daddy stuff from what I've seen."

"I don't know," Sephiroth looked in the window again. Genesis was trying to get Elle interested in some sort of clapping game.

"Don't know what?"

"If I really am her father." He caught the look on Angeal's face.

Angeal had to stop for this. "Sephiroth."

Sephiroth swallowed. "Yes?"

"Did you sleep with Aerith?"

He looked away, turning pink. "Yes."

"And she had a kid with your hair?"

"Yes." The blush deepened.

"It's not rocket science."

"She is mine," Sephiroth said quickly. "My responsibility. They both are, I'd never let them fend for themselves, but…" Sephiroth frowned hard as he measured his words. "It's… I don't know." He shrugged, giving up. "Hojo."

Something else fell into place. "Seph," Angeal said, "when you said you met Aerith in the lab... She wasn't _working_ there, was she?"

Sephiroth swallowed and gave the slightest shake of his head. "I don't know if it was something that man did that made Elle look like she does. He's been trying to recreate my process all my life."

Angeal whistled. "Well, shit."

Sephiroth nodded, but still felt the need to say, "Don't use that language in the house."

"Of course not."

They stood together, arms laden, looking in through the window. Genesis seemed to be acting out a story, most likely Loveless, using Elle's chocobo toy collection as the cast.

"You're being a good father, Sephiroth," Angeal said, full of conviction. "And you are a father. She looks like you and I don't just mean the hair. She has your face."

Sephiroth stayed a little longer looking through the window at Elle's features and wondered how Angeal could tell.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ella, sweetie, don't eat the Hero. His big part's coming up." Genesis tried to pull the little book-reading chocobo plushie away but Elle wasn't giving it over.

"Ella," Aerith said, "don't put toys in your mouth." A touch of her hand and Elle put the chocobo down and yawned. "Look at you, so sleepy."

"Guess I shouldn't be getting her riled up before bedtime," Genesis said.

"Back with the firewood," Angeal said, tromping through the door. "Speaking of bedtime…"

"Ella and I sleep in the loft," Aerith said, "but it's too small to hold all of us."

"No kidding. Angeal alone would fill the whole thing."

"We can't all have your figure, Gen," Angeal said, rolling his eyes.

Genesis blew Angeal a kiss. "Plenty of room to spread our sleeping bags right here," Genesis said. "I'm loving this fire."

"Good," Angeal said, filling up the woodbox. He glanced at Sephiroth and shared a look with Genesis that convinced him that everything was in order. "Guess you won't complain when you have to poke it in the middle of the night."

Sephiroth was busy making sure the door was locked properly. He made his way around the cottage, drawing the curtains in what was clearly part of a routine. When he was done he sat down on the bench beside Elle. She turned her head to look at him, clapping her hands with excitement. He sighed. "She won't go to sleep easy tonight."

Genesis actually looked sheepish. "I did rile her up then, didn't I? Perhaps a bedtime story will do the trick." He reached into his pocket for the book he always had with him.

Sephiroth smirked. "That should do it. She'll be out like a light."

Genesis glared at him. "You know what, Ella," Genesis said, slipping the book back where it came from. "Where's that storybook you got today? Let's read something from that."

Sephiroth's lips turned down a bit but he couldn't exactly say why. He had meant for the stories to be read to Elle, and Genesis had more experience than any of them with reading aloud. The stories Sephiroth had heard Aerith telling came from somewhere deep in her head.

Genesis came back from the table and set the book down on his lap so Elle could see the pictures. "Let's see, what should we read? Oh, here's one you'll like, Ella. 'The Little Cinder Girl'."

Sephiroth's eyes drifted as Genesis read. Aerith sat on a chair with a load of laundry beside her, folding cloth diapers, and matching up pairs of thick woolen socks. The shawl she still wore reflected a glimmer from the firelight the same way her hair did. If Sephiroth listened closely, in Genesis's dramatic pauses, he thought he could hear her humming the tune he had first heard her singing softly to her newborn, nestled in a sleeping bag with her in an icy mountain cave.

Angeal was busy laying out sleeping bags in front of the fire. Aerith and Elle had spent their first night in the cabin there too, curled up on the floor with a storm raging outside, fire blazing as quickly as Sephiroth could make it on short notice. He had left them there with all his gear early the next morning, thinking to make a quick run for more supplies. It took him two weeks to return. His heart still felt a pang when he thought of it. He had been sure he would find them frozen, or starved.

But Aerith had rallied somehow and begun to make the place a home. Guided by who knew what, she did laundry, and swept the hearth. She gathered wood and tended the fire, eked some sustenance from the old winter garden and turned dried military rations into a decent porridge to tide her over. And Project Lifestream turned out to be as resilient as her mother, surviving her birth and the bitter cold.

"And they lived happily ever after. The end." Genesis leaned back in his seat, looking utterly content. Then he began to snore. Elle patted the pictures in the book and gurgled.

"Hey, there," Angeal said, rising from an attempt to assemble chocobo toys into a sensible herd. He took the book from Genesis's lap and quietly closed it. "Gen, you put yourself to sleep."

Gen shook awake. "What? How long was I out?"

"A few seconds," Sephiroth said. "You snored."

"Did not," Genesis said, yawning. "I am tired though."

Aerith rose and set her laundry aside. "It's about bedtime for Ella and me too." She made to lift the baby but Elle protested, sprawling across the seat to cling to Sephiroth.

"Hmm," Sephiroth said, reaching out to steady Elle.

"She misses you," Aerith said, beginning to look sleepy herself. Elle pulled herself into Sephiroth's lap and leaned against him. Sephiroth's arms came up automatically but when he caught Angeal smirking at him he stopped stroking her hair, feeling the blush rising again.

"Maybe you should get Elle on up to bed," Angeal said. "I can get Gen settled in down here."

Sephiroth held Elle out for Aerith to take. "Are you coming?" she asked. "She won't sleep well without you once she knows you're here."

Sephiroth had to resist the urge to glare the look off Angeal's face. "I'll be up in a minute."

"So, you sleep in the loft too," Angeal said, after Aerith had gone.

"The stovepipe runs up that way," Sephiroth said. "It's warm."

"Of course," Angeal said, fluffing out Genesis's sleeping bag some more. There was a lilt in his tone and a curve on his lips. Sephiroth sorely wished both would go away. At least Genesis was too tired to add to his troubles.

Angeal soon had his hands full getting Genesis stripped down enough to sleep. "No, no, Gen, not your shorts. Young ladies in the house, remember? Keep it decent."

Genesis groaned and slumped into his sleeping bag, feet to the fire and rump in the air. Angeal cleared his throat. "I'll get him tucked in, promise."

Sephiroth's lips were drawn tight. "Goodnight," he said simply and walked up the narrow stairs. Angeal's eyes did not follow him all the way, a small mercy.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"First one foot," Angeal said, "then the other and there, you're all snug as a bug."

"Nnnghyeah," Gen moaned, rolling over in his sleeping bag. Angeal brushed red hair off Genesis's forehead.

"You're still on firepoking watch, don't think I'm letting you off because you're acting cute."

"Hm?" Genesis roused halfway. "Everybody went to bed?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Genesis rolled closer in his sleeping bag, crossing the gap between his and Angeal's. He snaked a hand across to reach for Angeal. "I want a baby."

"Gaia," Angeal groaned. "What do you expect me to do, lay you an egg?"

"Would you? I'd take good care of it."

Angeal stroked Genesis's cheek. "How about you just borrow Seph's kid once in a while?"

"Think he'd let me?" Genesis yawned. "I'd like that. Somebody's got to teach her about hair and makeup." There were two spots of high color on Genesis's cheeks, but the translucent pallor of the rest of his face was softened by the fire's glow. Sleep reclaimed him too quickly and Angeal thought his breathing was a bit labored, but he looked happier than he had in weeks.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Aerith already had Elle settled in for bed when Sephiroth reached the top, ducking his head to avoid the rafters as he worked the latch on the safety gate he had nailed into place himself. Their bed, such as it was, consisted of layers and layers of blankets and bedrolls spread across the floor. The new green one lay on top. The stovepipe rising through an inexact square in the kitchen ceiling kept the loft warm enough most nights, especially when Aerith pulled the draperies she had strung up across the open end to keep the heat in. So many little things she had known to do to make a life away from civilization, just as she had known how to birth, how to mother. Sephiroth wondered how, but would not ask.

"You came up," Aerith said, unfolding the old grey shawl that had become Elle's baby blanket. "I thought for a moment you might stay downstairs."

"Do you want me to?" Sephiroth turned to go.

"No, no, Elle will fuss." Aerith went to the low shelves that served for her wardrobe and pulled out an old flannel nightgown cut like something a woman in her eighties might wear. Sephiroth averted his eyes and tried to banish the wisps of memory. He had known the body now being shrouded in that shapeless frill sleeved sack, had known the touch of the skin beneath and the curve of the hips. He felt the sharp prick of shadow pain in his arm again.

He took a deep breath to steady himself and looked at Elle, lying peacefully in the center of the bed, her little white mage chocobo toy in one chubby baby fist. He could not see anything defining in her face, not even a trace of Aerith. Elle's face looked like any other baby's to him. Some father he was.

Aerith turned around, smoothing her hair back before taking her side of the bed. "Aren't you coming?" Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Fine, fine," Aerith said, amused. She turned on her side and gave Sephiroth some relative privacy.

He had pajamas in the wardrobe. Aerith always made sure they were washed and dried and ready for his next visit. He pulled them on in seconds, making up for her lack of body shyness with a double share of his own.

He took the other side of the bed and together they framed Elle between them, keeping her warm and safe on all sides. It was the way they had done it since her birth, most often with Sephiroth lying awake at a polite distance beside them both, sword within reach, his own body shielding them from the wind. Elle batted at Sephiroth with her chocobo in her sleep. Sephiroth wrinkled his nose at the blow and pulled the grey shawl up to her chin. "She's grown," he said.

"Babies tend to do that, I hear," Aerith said, one finger caught in Elle's little hand. "I think she likes her storybook." Sephiroth could only manage a nod. "How long will you stay this time?"

Later had apparently come. He had no choice but to think about it. "Angeal and Genesis can't go back," he said.

"I noticed," Aerith said, turning towards the ceiling, simply knowing in that way she did. "They'll have their strength a while yet, I think. There might be time to help them."

"It's only Gen who's sick," Sephiroth said. He wondered at the sad look Aerith gave him. She soon turned her eyes away, and raised herself on one arm to brush Elle's hair away from her face. The question still hung in the air between them. "I might be here a while," Sephiroth said.

Aerith smiled. "Elle will like that."

Sephiroth's eyes drifted down the curve of Aerith's body, draped in flannel. He cleared his throat and looked away. "Will you like that? Me here, with my friends?"

"What's not to like? They've been good company and Genesis looks like he'd be a good babysitter."

Sephiroth curled his toes beneath the covers. "I just don't want them getting the wrong idea about you and me."

Aerith blinked and shook her head. "It can't be worse than the truth."

Sephiroth wanted to fling the covers away and run, run out into the snow and keep running until he froze. It was what he deserved. "I'm so sorry." It came out as a whisper. He felt the needle in his arm again, and the burning that spread through him. He almost trembled on the bed. "I'm so, so sorry."

A hand on his cheek brought him back. Aerith had reached across Elle's sleeping form and touched him with no hesitation. "Sephiroth," she said, "it's not your fault. They did it to both of us. They did it to both of us."

He closed his eyes and began to tremble in earnest, seeing the doors slide open again, seeing the girl, weak and drugged, lying on the bed. He heard Hojo's laughter as the heat overwhelmed him. Then only whispers of memory till morning, when he woke with the ache of a strenuous night and the girl nearly insensate beside him.

He heard strange words in a sweet voice, a language he had heard before but did not understand. He opened his eyes. Aerith was singing to both of them, singing the haunting lullaby he had first heard on the mountain. She stopped when she saw his face. Her eyes looked too bright, but in the dim firelight from below, he couldn't be sure. "It's okay," she said, "It's okay. You got me out. You came for me. That's all that matters." But the damage had already been done.

He cursed himself for the thought, sure no decent father would ever think so. "I'm sorry," he said again. Aerith stroked his cheek and resumed her singing. Eventually she went quiet. Her fingers still pressed against his cheek. He wanted very badly to hold them and spill out the promise he had made to himself, that he would make everything better.

"I remember some of it," she whispered. He had thought she was asleep. "Just a little bit, in the morning, when they came to take me away." The drugs had still been in his system then. He remembered, not clearly, but enough for his insides to want to gnaw their way out.

"You put your arms around me," Aerith said.

He shivered at the nerve of him.

"You wouldn't let them take me," she said.

He made his own skin crawl.

"You told them…." She smiled. "You told them to go to hell and leave me alone. That you wouldn't let them hurt me anymore."

His breath stopped in his throat.

He remembered that. His mind at half speed and his limbs swimming through jelly and still he had tried to keep her from more harm. And failed miserably, when a needle took him in the arm again. For weeks afterwards, it haunted him, his failure and Hojo's taunts over the loss of his precious self-control.

Aerith's fingers brushed his forehead, smoothing his hair and stilling his thoughts. "You tried to protect me, even then," she said. "You tried. That's what I remember."

"I took your life away," he said past the lump in his throat. "There's no going back to it."

"They took my life away, Sephiroth, not you." Aerith moved her hand to Elle, to stroke the little baby fingers and feel the fluttering beat of the tiny heart. "You gave me a new one."

Sephiroth swallowed. Then he reached out and let his long fingers rest on Elle, just barely brushing Aerith's hand with his own. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye yet, but the pressure in his chest had eased.

Aerith began to hum her ancient melody again, even though the baby was already asleep. Sephiroth closed his eyes and listened, letting the words he could not understand wash over him. It came to him in the half-dreaming place between wakefulness and sleep. This time he had come to stay.


End file.
